Marchers walk into Linn Park during a silent protest of Alabama's immigration law last year. In the wake of Gov. Robert Bentley signing immigration law revisions, more protests are scheduled. (The Birmingham News/Mark Almond)

For a few minutes, Gov. Robert Bentley sounded strong and encouraging. He sounded like he was going to lead on an important issue.

Alas, it didn't last long. The governor reverted to pushover and went ahead and signed a terrible rewrite of the state's harsh immigration law.

Bentley could have killed it. He could have forced the Legislature to make real improvements in the special session under way right now.

But when lawmakers balked at dealing with more immigration law revisions in the special session, Bentley folded like a card table.

It's understandable why lawmakers would want this issue to just go away. The harsh immigration law, HB 56, that passed last year wrecked Alabama's reputation as a place to locate a business or visit. National and international attention focused on how intolerant Alabama was, and ugly images of the state's past resurfaced.

The revised immigration law passed last week, HB 658, is far from what was originally written. State Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, took over the bill when it got to the Senate and rewrote it.

Bentley and Republican leaders agreed HB 56 needed clarification and simplification. What passed last week is an even more complex law.

Bentley said he had problems with specific provisions: One requires schools to collect information on students' immigration status at the time of enrollment; the other sets up a public list on the Internet at the state Department of Homeland Security to display the names of undocumented residents who have had various matters before the courts.

That provision to check the immigration status of students, which is a part of HB 56, has been enjoined by a federal court. In the original version of HB 658, that mandate was taken out.

The provision to publish the names of undocumented immigrants who appear in a court is known as a "scarlet letter" provision, mainly intended to embarrass people.

"If I am going to sign this bill, and own this bill, I want it like I want it," Bentley said.

There was plenty enough wrong with the bill for Bentley to veto it outright. Instead, he put revisions to the immigration law in the call for the special session on redistricting. No Republican would sponsor Bentley's bill; after lawmakers kicked to the curb the revisions requested by Bentley, he caved.

Bentley said as "we worked with legislators during the special session, it became clear that the Legislature did not have the appetite for addressing further revisions at this time."

Bentley needs to work on his negotiation skills. He is a Republican. The Legislature is heavily dominated by Republicans. Yet, Bentley could not find one Republican to help him with his bill.

So, instead of doing what one expects from a leader -- vetoing a bad bill -- he signed it into law.

One day, Bentley said he doesn't want to own this bill unless it is what he wants. The next, he owns it lock, stock and barrel by signing it.

"I don't want to lose the progress we have made," Bentley said. If the governor and lawmakers believe Alabama's immigration law is progress, they haven't a clue what progress is. (An interesting aside: The new law didn't merit a mention in a long list of accomplishments touted by the speaker's office.)